Automatic stooker



'- Aug. 2619245 1,506,237

S. D. HILTS AUTOMATIC STOOKER Filed Aug. 9, 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 II] n u u u u n n u u u u n n n 28 F a INVENTOR Simeon David Hi Its.

Anonusv Ain 26, 1924. 1,506,237

S. D. HILTS AUTOMATIC STOOKER Filed Aug. 9, 19 20 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 'EI El EI B INVENTOR Simeon David Hflts.

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Patented Aug. 25, 1924:,

U NET E1) STAT ES SIMEON- DAVIDAHILTS, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

AUTOMATIC STOOKER.

Application filed August 9, 1920.

To all whom it may canoe-m:

Be it known that I, SIMEON llHrcrs, a citizen of the Dominion of Canada, residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and usefulimprovements. in Automatic Stookers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to stookers andhas for its primary object the provision of a construction adapted to be suitably supported from a binder so that sheaves may be delivered to a sheaf catching. device and when a number of sheaves have been received they will be stooked automatically.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of a stooker of the character stated which will be of simple construction and operation as well as highly eflicient in use and which includes a sheaf receiving memberformed in sections adapted to cooperate in receiving the sheaves and pressing the same into proper engagement to form a stook when they are released.

The invention has for another object the provision of a stooker of the character stated which will be of such construction that the sheaf receiving member may be operated as desired and at all-times under the control of the operator.

T he invention has for a further. object. the provision of a stooker of the character stated in which the operative parts are arranged in such a manner that they may be thrown into and out of operation as desired, during the travel of the stooker with the binder over the field.

With the foregoing and other objects in view as will. appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of co-operatiug elements as hereinafter more specifically set forth, claimed and shown in the accompanying drawings forming, a part of the present application, in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the stooker.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation with parts broken away.

Fig. 3 is a front end elevation.

Fig. i is a fragmentary detail elevation of a portion of the stooker, showing the clutch member at the forward end of the stooker.

5' is a detail section substantially on the plane of line 55 of Fig. 4., lookingin thedirection indicated by the arrows,

Serial No. 402,470.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary detail section substantially on'the plane of line 66 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6, showing; a different position of the portion of the sheaf receiving member disclosed in Figs. 6 and 7.

Fig. 8'is a: detail section, substantially on the plane of line 88 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged detail'section,.sub stantially on the plane of line 99 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Referring more in detail to the drawings in which similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, it will be noted that the machine includes a frame 5 which is of substantially U-shaped form, including outwardly offset rear ends 6 of longitudinal members 7 of the frame to receive the stub axles 8 on which the traction wheels 9 are mounted, as shown clearly in Fig. 1. Forward supporting wheels 10 are also provided and mounted on axles 11 carried indepcnding brackets 1:2, suspended from theforward corners of. the frame 5. This may be clearly understood by referring to Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings It will be also noted from Figs. 1 and 3 of' the drawings that the longitudinal members of the frame 5 are connected at their forward portions by spaced transverse frame members 13. A plurality of outwardly extended bracket members 1% are carried in spaced relation on the longitudinal members of theframe 5, as shown clearly in Fig. 1 and the purpose of the. bracket members 14 will presently appear.

Asprocket wheel 15 is carried by one of the. traction wheels- 9 and a sprocket chain 16 operates over. the. sprocket wheel '15 and also over the sprocket wheel 17, which is carriedon the sleeve 18 fastened on the forward transverse shaft 19 by a set screw 20 or other suitable means. The forward] trans verseshaft 19 is rotatably mounted in the forward ends of the longitudinal frame members 5, as shown clearly in the drawings. It willv alsov be seen that the sleeve 18has a clutch member 21 provided thereon which is adapted to be engaged at times by the clutch member 22, which latter is slidably mounted on the forward transverse shaft 19, as shown. clearly in Figs, 1. .3: and 4.

It will also be seen from these views that the clutch member 22 is keyed to the forward transverse shaft 19 and adapted to rotate therewith whereby operation of the shaft 19 will be caused when the clutch member 22 is engaged with the clutch member 21. vVhen the clutch members 22 and 21 are disengaged, however, and the stooker is travelling over the field, the sprocket chain 16 will rotate the sprocket wheel 17 and sleeve 18 on the shaft 19 withouthaving any effect on the latter. operating the clutch member 22 will be later described in detail.

By referring to Figs. 1 and 3 it will be seen that the forward transverse shaft 19 carries gear wheels 24 and also segmental or mutilated gear wheels 25. The gear wheels 24 are arranged near the opposite ends of the shaft 19 and constantly intermesh with gear wheels 26 carried on the forward ends of longitudinal side shafts 27, while the segmental or mutilated gear wheels are arranged in opposed relation at the central portion of the shaft 19 with the gear teeth of the opposed gear wheels 25 ofiset from one another, as shown clearly in Fig. 1. The purpose of this construction and arrangement of gear wheels 25, as well as the gear wheels 24, will presently appear.

, Each longitudinal side shaft 27 is mounted for rotation in the bracket members 14 extended outwardly from one side of the frame 5 and has a pair of segmental or mutilated gear wheels-28 mounted thereon in opposed relation and the teeth of the opposed gear wheels 28 are offset from one another. An intermediate gear wheel 29 is positioned above and between the gear wheels 28 so as to mesh with the teeth thereof at proper times, during operation of'the stooker. The gear wheel 29 is car ried on a vertical shaft 30 mounted in a suitable bracket 81 carried on the frame 5 and a second gear wheel 32 is carried on the shaft 30 and opposed to the gear wheel 29 as shown clearly in Fig. 2. The gear wheel 32 meshes with and drives the gear wheel 33 carried on the stub shaft 34, which latter is rotatably mounted in an upstanding bracket 35 carried on the frame 5. It will be understood that the gear wheel 33 is rigid on the stub shaft 34 while the gear wheels '29 and 32 are rigid on the stub shaft 30 and the gear wheels 28 are rigid on the shaft 27. Each longitudinal side shaft 27 has a clutch member 36 at its rear end adapted to operate on an opposed clutch member 3'? carried at the forward end of a shaft 38 in alignment with the shaft 27 and rotatably mounted in the bracket members 14 located near the rear corners of the frame 5 and extending from the sides thereof, as previously stated. A pair of cams 39 are carried on each shaft 38 for operation against the The means for under side of a turn-table 40, which latter is carried on a centrally depending stem 41, which is slidably engaged in the spaced horizontal supporting plates 42 projecting from the side of the frame 5, near the rear end operates an endless cable 44 for rotating the turn-table 40. The endless cable 44 is ex tended through openings in the upstanding bracket 35 and one of the cross bars 13 and engaged around the cable operating drum 45, as shown clearly in Fig. 1. The cable operating drum 45 is rigid on the horizontal shaft 46, which rotates in the cross members 13 of the frame 5, the shaft 46 and drum 45 being extended longitudinally in the forward portion of the frame, as shown clearly in the drawings. It will be noted that the turn-table operating cables 44 from the opposite sides of the machine are wound around the cable operating drum 45 in opposite directions, so that the turn-tables may be properly rotated when the drum is operated. The bevelled gear'47 carried on the extended forward end of the drum shaft 46 is interposed between the segmental or mutilated gear wheels 25, (which were previously described) and the teeth of the segmental or mutilated gear wheels 25 are adapted to act upon the gear wheel 47 and rotate the latter in first one direction and then the other, during operation of the shaft 19.

As means for normally locking the shaft 46 against rotation, a locking pin 48 is extended laterally from the forward end portion of the shaft 46 and extended through an elongated slot 49 provided in the bent free end 50 of the locking bar 51, the other end of which'is pivoted to a rock bar 52. The rock bar 52 is mounted intermediate its ends on one of the transverse frame members 13 by the pivot member 53. The upper end of the rock bar 52 is connected with the upper end of a second rock bar 54 by means of the connecting rod 55, as shown clearly in Figs. 3 and 4. The second rock bar 54 is mounted at its lower end on the transverse frame member 13 by the pivot member 55 and a slidable clutch operating bar 56 is pivoted at one end to the central portion of the rock bar 54. The slidable clutch operating rod 56 works through suitable guides 57 carried on the frame member 13 and has-its free end terminating in a yoke 58 which is engaged in a suitable manner with the clutch member 22, to operate the latter longitudi nally of the shaft 19 and against the action of the spring 23, at the proper time, according to operation of the drum 45 and its shaft 46. A leaf spring 59 is carried on the frame member 13 with its free end resting on the bent end of the locking bar 51 to resiliently retain the bar 51 on the locking pin 48. A releasing lever is pivoted on the frame member 13 with its free end 61 engaged beneath the free end 50 of the locking bar 51 to disengage the latter from the locking pin 48 when the lever 60 isoperated bymeans of the lever operating cable 62 connected with the upstanding portion of the lever 60, as shown in the drawings.

A two part adjustable shaft is extended from the stub shaft S-l, the two part adj ustable shaft including the rod 63 connected by one end with the stub shaft 34 by means of a universal joint 64, as shown clearly in Fig. 2. The sleeve 65 of the adjustable shaft is adapted to slide longitudinally over. the other end of therod 63 and connects by means of a universal joint 66, with stub shaft 67 which is adapted to be rotated in the bearing members 68 carried on the upper. side of the turn-table 40. Bearing members 69 are extended laterally from the stub shaft 67, between the bearing members 68 and are pivotally connected with a lateral extension 70 of a bearing collar 71, which is loosely engaged around the supporting rod 72, which latter is mounted transversely above the turn-table 40. Stop collars 73 are carried on the supporting rod 72 on opposite sides of the bearing collar 71 to prevent movement of the latter longitudinally of the supporting rod 72. An upstanding bearing member 74 is mounted on the turn-table 40 at a point diametrically opposite the bearing members 68. The supporting rod 72 is loosely engaged through the bearing member 74 and a spiral groove 75 is provided in the supporting rod 72 to receive a pin carried in the bearing member 74- to cause rotation of the supporting rod 72 as the latter is moved longitudinally through the bearing member 74, by operation of the stub-shaft 67, as should be apparent from Fig. 9. One half or section 7 6 of the sheaf receiver is mounted on the end of each supportin rod 72 extending into the open space in the center of the supporting frame.

It will be understood that all of the parts 63 to 76 inclusive are duplicated on the other side of the machine. By referring to Fig. 1, it will be noted that the supporting rods '72 are shown as being in alignment and the parts or sections 76 of the sheaf receiver as being brought together at their lower side. It will also be seen clearly from this view, in connection with Figs. 2, 6 and 7, that the parts or sections 76 of the sheaf receiver are of substantially semi-circular form in cross section and tapered toward one end. They are also positioned on the supporting rods 72 in such a manner that their upper longitudinal. edges are spaced apart, while their lower longitudinal edges overlap, when the receiver is in the horizontal or receiving position, as shown in Fig. 1.

It is believed the complete construction and operation of the structure may now he understood from the foregoing paragraphs taken in connection with the accompanying drawings without further detailed description. It may be briefly stated, how ver, that the frame 5 may be suitably supported in any desired manner from the side of a binder so that the sheaf receiver may be under the discharge portion of the side of the binder to permit the sheaves to drop into the sheaf receiver.

After several sheaves have been deposited in the sheaf receiver, the operator should pull the lever operating cable 62, thereby operating the releasing lever 60 and raising the locking bar 51 from engagement with the locking pin 48. As the locking bar 51 is raised to release the locking pin 4-8, the spring 23 operates to throw the clutch member 22 into engagement with the clutch member 21, thereby locking the shaft 19 for rotation with the sprocket wheel 17 and sleeve 18 carrying the clutch member 21. This permits the gear wheel 24 to rotate the gear wheel 26 on each side of the machine, thereby causing rotation of the longitudinal side shafts 27 in the proper directions.

The bevel gears 28 carried on the longitudinal side shafts 27 will register with the gear wheel 29 on the vertical shaft 30 and rotate the latter together with the longitudinal side shaft 27 and thus cause the vertical shaft 30 torotate the stub shaft 34 through the medium of the gear wheels 32 and 83 carried on the vertical shaft 30 and the stub shaft 34, respectively. This will result in turning the l11811'll3G'1'S 63 to 6'? inclusive and thereby moving the supporting rod 72 longitudinally and rocking the same in the bearing member 74. This should be readily understood by referring to the drawings. It should also be evident that, as the operation takes place on both sides of the machine at the same time and the supporting rods 7 2 are compelled to turn together with the sheaf receiving parts of sections 76 dur ing the movement just described, the sheaves resting in the sections 76 of the sheaf receiver will be pressed tightly together. Dur ing this operation, the pairs of cams 39 pro vided at each side of the machine operate against the under sides of the turn-tables 40 and raise the same, owing to the continued rotation of the longitudinal side shafts 27. The raising of the turn-tables 40 is accomplished just previous to the turning of the members or sect-ions 76 of the sheaf receiver from the horizontal position shown in Fig. 1 to vertical posit-ion. By the time the members or sections 7 6 of the sheaf receiver are in vertical position, the cams 39 are sufficiently turned so that their flat sides are under the turntables 40, thus allowing a sudden drop to the turn-tables 40 so that the sheaves of grain are driven into the stubble as they are deposited on the surface and released from the sheaf receiver 'to. form a stock.

During the operation of the parts as above described the shaft 19 continues to rotate and the gear wheels operate in turn on the gear wheel 47, rotating the lat ter with the drum 45 and drum shaft 46 in first one direction and then the other. During this first rotation of the drum 45 and drum shaft 46, the ends of the cables 44 are wound upon the drum 45, thereby rotating the turn-tables in the direction iii-- dicated by the arrows. This results in turning the sheaf receiving members or sections 7 6 rearwardly and at the same time spread ing them as the stock is placed on the ground. During this operation of the drum and drum shaft 46, the locking pin 48 will have made a complete revolution with the drum 45 and drum shaft 46 and will return to the slot 49 in the end of the locking bar 51.

After the stock has been properly deposited on the ground, the operator should again pull the operating cable 62 for the releasing lever and thereby again release the locking pin 48 from the slot 49 so as to permit action of the other gear wheel 25 on the gear wheel 47 to cause rotation of the drum 45 and the drum shaft 46 in the reverse direction. During this reverse rotation of the drum 45 and drum shaft 46, the cables 44 will be operated'to reverse the rotation of the turn-tables 40 and bring them back to normal position. As the clutch members 21 and 22 are engaged during this second operation of the shaft 19, the longitudinal side shafts 27 are again rotated with the shaft 19. This second rotation of the longitudinal side shafts 27 will cause the gear wheels 28' thereof to operate oppositely on the bevel gears 29 of the vertical shafts 30. This results in reversing the operation of the parts operated from the longitudinal side shafts 27 and the vertical shafts 30 and a returning of all of such parts to normal position. After this operation, the sections 76 of the sheaf receiver are again in position to receive sheaves and all of the parts operatively connected with the sheaf receiving members 7 6 are in their normal positions ready for operation at the proper time. It is believed the complete operation of all of the parts may now be clear without further explanation.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed, it is to be understood that minor changes in the details of construction, combination and arrangement of co-operating elements may be resorted to within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Vhat I claim as new is,

A stooker consisting of a frame, wheels supporting said frame, a shaft transversely positioned at the forward end of said frame, a loosely mounted sprocket wheel on one end of said shaft, a sprocket carried byone of said supporting wheels, a sprocket chain connecting said sprocket with said loosely mounted sprocket wheel, tables pivotally mounted on said frame, means for raising said tables, means for turning said tables, supports carried by said tables, rods carried by said supports, a sheaf-receiving member carried at the inner end of each of said rods, means for ope-rating said rods. for turning said sheaf-receiving members from a horizontal to a vertical position, said raising means being adapted to allow said tables to drop when said receiving means is in vertical position, clutch means adapted to engage said loosely mounted sprocket wheel and lock the same for operation with the said transversely positioned shaft, means for automatically disengaging said clutch. means, and tripping means for operating said last named means.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

SIMEON DAVID HILTS. Vitnesses:

JOHN N. LINDSAY, ROBERT M. WATT. 

